Man Pages

A man page (short for manual page) is a form of software documentation. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts. A user may invoke a man page by issuing the man command. By default, man typically uses a terminal pager program such as more or less to display its output.

• man <command> - man followed by a command (for which you want help) opens manual for reading. Press q to quit the manpage. Some man pages contain examples.

• man -f <command> - brief overview of command

• man -k <search string> - shows a list of man pages containing a string.

• whatis <command> - Equal to man -f <command>. To see just the description of a manual page, use whatis followed by a string.

• whereis -m <command> - Equal to man -w <command>. The location of a manpage can be revealed with whereis.

• man sections - By now you will have noticed the numbers between the round brackets. man man will explain to you that these are section numbers. Executable programs and shell commands reside in section one.

• 1 Executable programs or shell commands

• 2 System calls (functions provided by the kernel)

• 3 Library calls (functions within program libraries)

• 4 Special files (usually found in /dev)

• 5 File formats and conventions eg /etc/passwd

• 6 Games

• 7 Miscellaneous (including macro packages and conventions), e.g. man(7)

• 8 System administration commands (usually only for root)

• 9 Kernel routines [Non standard]

• mandb - Should you be convinced that a man page exists, but you can't access it, then try running mandb on Debian/Mint or run makewhatis on CentOS/Redhat.